An aspiring ballerina from a wealthy family learns some lessons about both dancing and life from a roughneck with soul in this teen drama. Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in a rough section of Baltimore,… MoreAn aspiring ballerina from a wealthy family learns some lessons about both dancing and life from a roughneck with soul in this teen drama. Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in a rough section of Baltimore, and has been in and out of trouble with the law most of his life. Finding himself before the judge yet again, Tyler is sentenced to 200 hours of community service, and he ends up mopping floors at the Maryland School of the Arts. Tyler catches the eye of Nora (Jenna Dewan), a gifted ballet student who is trying to incorporate hip-hop moves into her classical routines. None of Nora's fellow students seem to be on the same page as her, but Tyler is a talented street dancer with strength, moves, and enthusiasm. Despite the misgivings of the school's administrators, Nora persuades Tyler to team up with her for a major class project. Tyler gains a new self-respect as he gives in to the discipline of the dance academy, but he wonders if this new opportunity means turning his back on who he really is. Matters become all the more complicated when Tyler and Nora realize they're falling in love. Step Up was the first directorial credit for choreographer Anne Fletcher, who designed dance routines for the films Bring It On, She's All That, and Boogie Nights. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The surprise commercial success of Save the Last Dance ushered in a wave of films focussed around street dance and hip-hop. Where classic-era Hollywood dance… MoreThe surprise commercial success of Save the Last Dance ushered in a wave of films focussed around street dance and hip-hop. Where classic-era Hollywood dance films were dominated by ballroom, ballet and tap dancing, the 2000s gave us film after film in which impressive street or hip-hop choreography came face-to-face with decades-old romantic and dramatic conventions, with varying degrees of success.
At the more mainstream end of this wave we have Step Up, the first in a series of five films (to date) which combine predictable plots with often jaw-dropping dancing. But where its sequels increasingly sacrificed narrative for the sake of set-pieces, the film that started it all gets a good balance and is the most focussed of all the series. It's hardly game-changing in its construction, but it is surprisingly heartwarming and comes across as more genuine than you might expect.
It's very easy to view dance films as essentially a series of set-pieces held together by a threadbare story. Even in the so-called golden days of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, around ten times the effort seemed to be expended on the dancing than on the events that made them dance in the first place. As I argued in my review of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it is possible to enjoy these films as artistic endeavours rather than narrative ones, but for the less freeform among us, even the best leave us with an unsatisying niggle.
The best dance films, in any sub-genre, succeed because they are not really about dancing. The Red Shoes is about the boundary between fantasy and reality, and the tension between creativity and common sense. Black Swan is about the need to embrace one's dark side in striving for artistic perfection, even at the cost of one's sanity. Even Strictly Ballroom, Baz Luhrmann's raucous debut, is less about ballroom dancing than the fight against orthodoxy and how the fear of failure cripples people.
Step Up may not boast the richly-layered themes of any of these offerings, nor is it as visually ravishing. But it does belong in the same camp, since its dancing is used to explore ideas and character traits rather than just serve as a distraction. Instead of dazzling you with MTV-style cuts and empty, shallow bombast, the film is an altogether gentler beast, whose moments of posturing are tame and infrequent.
Despite not having the visual splendour of Luhrmann, Darren Aronofsky or Powell and Pressburger, Step Up is still a decent-looking film. Michael Seresin has spent much of his career working with Alan Parker, lensing all of his films between Bugsy Malone and Come See The Paradise. You won't find here any of the evocative colour shifts and shadows that he achieved in Angel Heart, but the colour palette is inviting and his use of wide angles is judicious.
Much like Charles Walters, director of High Society, Anne Fletcher comes from a background in choreography. There are occasions when we get the impression that the sets have been deliberately designed to be as big and spacious as possible, to allow more room for the dancing and more scope for the camera movements. But while Walters ultimately failed to tell his story in an interesting way, Fletcher has enough grasp of cinematic narrative to hold our attention.
The set-pieces in Step Up are of a very high quality. While less kinetic or feverish than in some of the sequels, there's still an awful lot of physical effort that goes into the various sequences. As a showcase for how exciting dancing can be, the film is on a par with some of the classic Hollywood offerings I mentioned. Channing Tatum's appearance doesn't suggest that he would be a good dancer, but he both looks and feels the part, and his deadpan nature plays into the hands of the role, unlike his later performance in The Eagle.
The story of Step Up, by contrast, is incredibly conventional. It's the classic story of two people from completely different backgrounds whose only means to get what they want is to team up. Over the course of the film they swap tips and interests, gradually grow to like and respect each other, and after a brief cooling of their relationship, they decide they really need each other and triumph. This plot is among the most well-worn in film, but it is applied in a somewhat engaging way.
Step Up uses its two conflicting styles of music to reflect the flaws of the individual characters. Tyler's laid-back, devil-may-care attitude gives him the freedom to take his dance moves wherever they choose to go, but he lacks the ability to focus which could make him potentially dance for a living. Nora, by contrast, is a prisoner of rigidity, being so tightly bound by the rules and traditions of classical music and dance that she can neither innovate nor stimulate.
The relationship between our two main characters is a breaking down of barriers, with both sides learning to respect traits of the other. Tyler not only understands responsibility, but he actively seeks it, eventually commiting to putting on a killer show and making a living. Nora learns to loosen up and have fun, which makes her dancing more natural and appealing. Tatum and Jenna Dewan have good chemistry together, which eventually led to them getting married in 2009.
There is also a nice comment in the film about how snobbery and tradition can actually put off the most talented people in a given field. Tyler's natural talent is plain for all to see (except himself), and yet it's hard to imagine him being given a level playing field with the more privileged members of the school. The film does, however, become a little more cartoony in this respect, with Nora's dance partner Brett being very thinly-written.
Step Up also deserves credit for maintaining control over its tone. Many films which are melodramatic in nature feel the need to inject some kind of darkness partway through their plots in a desperate bid to be taken seriously. While the film isn't as nuanced as Fame in this regard, the dramatic twist involving the younger boy is handled delicately, so that it compliments the drama rather than pulling us out of it.
Step Up is a surprisingly decent dance film, which acquits itself perfectly well as both a physical showcase and a piece of storytelling. Aspects of it are cartoony or melodramatic, and it's hardly the most original or accomplished piece of cinema around. But it is a great deal more agreeable than many would lead us to believe. If only its narrative standards had been maintained for the sequels.

Eric Alvarez

Predictable, but an alright movie.

Manu Gino

Saw it again!!! Great dance moves movie. Good story.
Tyler Gage (channing tatum) is from the wrong side of the tracks, caught up in a world of drugs,violence… MoreSaw it again!!! Great dance moves movie. Good story.
Tyler Gage (channing tatum) is from the wrong side of the tracks, caught up in a world of drugs,violence and crime.
After leaving a party Tyler and his two friends end up outside the Maryland school of the arts they break in and find themselves in the theater where they destroy the set. the boys are busted by a rent a cop and he grabs Mac, Tyler tackles the cop telling mac and skinny to run and is taken to court the next day he is made to serve community service at the scene of the crime.
Nora Clark a senior dancer at the school is work hard for her final show piece on which she is basing all her dreams of being accepted into a dance company. When her partner break his leg in a accident, Tyler steps in temporarily.
While learning with Nora, Tyler starts changing his perspective of life and becomes a little more serious about his future. He requests the School's director to let him join as a student. But she tells when he proves that he is dedicated, she will consider his request then.
Tyler suggests new line to the show piece and both Nora and himself choreograph a fusion of Ballet and Hip Hop. When Nora's old partner Andrew returns, Tyler storms out angrily accusing Nora of using him as a replacement. Andrew unable to pick up Hip Hop, leaves Nora partner-less. Nora choreographs another sequence without a partner.
When Tyler and Mac are in a club Skinny steals a car from their rival gang and gets shot and dies. Tyler decides to do the show piece with Nora. He goes backstage and convinces a reluctant Nora to change the sequence back to the one they composed together. They both deliver a spectacular performance landing Nora a place in a dance company. The school director accepts Tyler as a student.

Thomas Bowler

shallow acting + average dancing = average movie

KJ Proulx

There are good films, bad films, and then those that you know are not good but you just can't help but enjoy for reasons unknown. "Step Up" is… MoreThere are good films, bad films, and then those that you know are not good but you just can't help but enjoy for reasons unknown. "Step Up" is one of those films, because I enjoy how the actors think they are in a serious film, when the emotion and pacing is so cliche that it becomes amusing. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Tatum are great together, but that is probably due to the fact that they fell in love on set and got married in real life. "Step Up" has some of the worst script-writing even with the standards set by this lame story. As a juvenile teenager is forced into community service, he finds an interest in ballet and romance blossoms. This film is very lame, oddly directed, and almost every scene is handled sloppily, but the chemistry saves this film from being utter garbage. In the end, I would almost call this a guilty pleasure, but that would be way too generous.

Bethany Murphy

The best Step Up! Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan are perfect together and the dancing scenes are incredible.

Dead Angel

The dance at the end was awesome.

Alice Shen

Pretty basic guy-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks-makes-something-of-himself-through-dance story. Channing Tatum is surprisingly an awesome street dancer, but… MorePretty basic guy-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks-makes-something-of-himself-through-dance story. Channing Tatum is surprisingly an awesome street dancer, but I would have to say <i>Save the Last Dance</i> is edgier and deeper with the socio-racial issues.

Wildaly M

How do I end up watching these music video films? Channing Tatum is better off just being a model.

like many other dance movies but still really good and entertaining and a good storyline and awesome dance moves!

Luke Baldock

More dance movie shenanigans. Same plot, same twists, same everything. A young rich girl dance student and a poor urban punk have some moves to teach each… MoreMore dance movie shenanigans. Same plot, same twists, same everything. A young rich girl dance student and a poor urban punk have some moves to teach each other. Both emotionally and rhythmically. The dance routines are actually well filmed and performed so in that regard it is successful. The performances are also not too bad despite the tripe they have to spew out. If you like your films basic, entertaining and challengeless then you make like this.